DiGi Telecommunications [DiGi] has launched its first Kg IFA [Internet for All] to Malaysian rural communities in Kg Gong Chengal, Kemaman, as part of a progressive rollout for communities nationwide, said the telecom.

Officiating the launch, YB Dato' Sri Ahmad Shabery bin Cheek, Minister of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia applauded the programme to bring high speed internet connectivity to local communities via WiFi and mobile internet and said this would help bring significant socio-economic, education, and development benefits to all Malaysians.

"Bringing internet connectivity here will create the much needed opportunity for the local community to access information and get a chance to improve their living standards by creating new sources of revenue through e-commerce," Shabery said.

"Today's launch means a lot to us in DiGi as it marks another important milestone in our continuous effort to provide internet access to more Malaysians, consistent with our Internet For All mission," he said. "We believe this initiative is one of the best approaches to empower the local community as the internet will bring benefits to them in terms of education, development and opportunities to grow their businesses as well as to stay connected to the digital world we live in today."

"It is DiGi's goal to have all the households in Kg IFA connected either via mobile internet or WiFi. This will be our contribution to help Malaysia achieve its aim of 75 percent household broadband penetration by 2015," said Ab Halim.

In conjunction with this launch, classes for computer training and internet familiarisation, e-learning, e-commerce and e-banking will also be organised to help the people of Kg IFA, he said. These classes will be facilitated by the Pusat Internet 1Malaysia, which is also managed by DiGi in collaboration with MCMC.